Corby was accompanied by bodyguard to the stars John McLeod, who has provided security for Leonard Cohen, Roger Federer and the Dalai Lama.

And the plans are that when Corby leaves the parole offices, the convoy of cars taking her to the airport does not drive fast, for reasons of safety and also in order to reduce the time she will need to wait at the airport for her flight home. Last week Mercedes taped a note onto the outside wall of their home, demanding that the media stop invading their privacy.

On Saturday morning, dozens of Australian and other worldwide media, as well as local journalists, have been standing by outside Corby's villa waiting for her to be taken to her parole officer.

After being released from the Bali jail, Corby has made a decision to turn to Instagram to tell her side of the story and report her own release.

She is understood to have misgivings about leaving Bali, especially as it will mean leaving behind her boyfriend, Sumatran paddle boarder Ben Panangian and her two dogs.

But it was clearly a day of major celebration at the house south of Brisbane, as friends and relatives dropped round - including her "auntie Jen" armed with a $600 bottle of Belvedere vodka. "I don't see a security threat for her but we are responsible as police, whether there is a threat or not".

Former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono granted Corby's clemency plea in 2012, reducing her sentence by five years because of good behavior.

Mr Siregar said sentencing for crimes in Indonesia was not standardised and someone else who imported more marijuana could receive a lesser sentence - or the death penalty. "But I felt that Corby has the chance to fix herself".

As TV reporters reminisced live on air about the first time they heard of a Gold Coast beauty called Schapelle, Corby left for the airport. There's the crippling traffic in Bali, as well as the growing media pack, all wanting their piece of Schapelle.

She is forbidden from speaking to journalists as part of her parole conditions.

After weeks of media speculation and waiting, her departure proved swift, ingenious, at times comical and was done with much fanfare.

'So happy! Yay, she's home in Australia!' she said, clambering out of the back seat of a grey SUV.

Kuta police chief Wayan Sumara said Corby was not receiving special treatment, but there would be extra police deployed.

Corby was convicted of smuggling 4.2kg of cannabis into Bali in 2005.

Her case sparked diplomatic rows between Indonesia and Australia, attracted intense interest in her court with prolonged public debate over her guilt. "She is not thinking about that at all, she only wants to get on with her life and to be left in peace". "We'll be trying to get her back into the swing of things so she feels confident".

She said the Australian government also paid for four witnesses to fly to Bali.